5-year-old cancer patient is granted wish, Soldiers up with Cavalrymen

Recently-promoted Staff Sgt. Gaven Cox gives Sgt. David Raines the order to do push-ups after he is promoted during a formation at Fort Hood, Texas, March 20. Raines, a cavalry scout with Troop C, 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, said he just wanted Gaven to walk away with a smile on his face.

Staff Sgt. Gaven Cox aims an AT-4 launcher with the help of cavalry scout Sgt. David Raines of Tampa, Fla., at the Engagement Skills Trainer at Fort Hood, Texas, March 20. Five-year-old Cox was granted his wish through the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the troops with Troop C, 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division.

Staff Sgt. Gaven Cox gets to know the horse he is about to ride at the 1st Cavalry Division's Horse Detachment right outside Fort Hood, Texas, March 20.

Honorary Staff Sgt. Gaven Cox maneuvers a virtual Apache helicopter on Fort Hood, Texas, March 20. After successfully completing the training he was deemed an honorary gun pilot. As part of the Make-a-Wish Foundation, Cox's wish to become a Soldier was granted.

Staff Sgt. Gaven Cox, a 5-year-old who was diagnosed with leukemia, checks out the pilot seat with the help of Spc. Andrew Ramsdell a crew chief with Company C, 3rd Assault Helicopter Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, on Fort Hood, Texas, March 20.

A cancer patient Staff Sgt. Gaven Cox is presented a Stetson, a tradition unique to the 1st Cavalry Division, after being promoted during a formation at Fort Hood, Texas, March 20. Cox will be turning six in early April and it was his wish to become a story.

FORT HOOD, Texas - Dangerous terrorists have infiltrated the heavily-guarded central-Texas base and there is only one person who can get the job done. Who knew the safety of the 1st Cavalry Division would be left in the hands a 5-year-old'

Through the Make-A-Wish foundation, Sgt. Gaven Cox takes a break from his battle with cancer to "Soldier up" with his team members assigned to Troop C, 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, for the top secret 'find and destroy' mission, March 20.

Along side his fellow comrades with the 3rd 'Grey Wolf' Brigade Combat Team: he saddled up with the division's horse detachment, flew a virtual Apache helicopter combat flight over the Iraqi capital, maneuvered on an actual Black Hawk - all before lunch time.

Gaven and his personal flight crew with Company C, 3rd Assault Helicopter Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment took flight in search of the make-believed insurgents, which was the first half of his mission.

"The pilot actually did some pretty hard banks," said Sgt. David Raines, a cavalry scout who rode with the soon to be 6-year-old. "I've done about 20 different rides in combat and none of them were ever like that."

Gaven's mother Melissa Heminger told reporters that her son, who was diagnosed with leukemia in December 2007, has been a Soldier since he was three and has proven it more and more each day the last couple of months.

"I look at him everyday and he's fighting it. I know that there are days it's hard for him to just walk to the bathroom, but he just keeps going strong and keeps smiling. The things that children can overcome are amazing," Melissa said.

She said that it is evident each week she walks into the clinic and watches all the other bald children, boys and girls, who are just happy to be there and to still be able to do things that other children can do.

"Gaven's courageous story pretty much mirrors what were fighting for. We go through a lot, but Gaven also has been through a lot," said Lt. Christopher Hall. "It shows what we're doing overseas, what we do everyday is worth while when you see the kind of strength in a kid like that - five years old and fighting as hard as we are.

Melissa of Toledo, Ohio, said the last couple of months have been very intense and a rollercoaster ride filled with ups and downs for the tight-knit family. Although their family, who call Kaufman, Texas home, has overcome so much in such a short period of time - it hasn't been easy.

"We have our good days and bad days. The chem., the steroids, the insulin shots," Melissa explained. "All families have their ups and downs. It's a bump in the road we have to get over and we will. It's just a matter of getting there... We have our own little army at home.

"Everybody has their own job, our own responsibilities and we still come together at night at dinner and talk about what we've done all day as if nothing has changed."

Troy Heminger, the stepfather to the four children and the reason Gaven wanted to be a Soldier, has stepped into this family and loved those kids as his own.

The day had been so successful that Troy, an Army veteran, said, "Gaven doesn't even realize he's sick anymore."

But for some Soldiers that little bit of success makes all the running around worth while.

Hall the officer in charge the Make-A-Wish project said that putting all the pieces together has been a lot of tasking, but seeing Gaven come out here, seeing him in a uniform, watching him hop on a horse all smiles is definitely worth all the work.

"It's an awesome experience to be able to make a day for him. It takes a lot of power and courage to do what he does every day," said Pvt. Joseph Isaacs, a cavalry scout who has seen what the battle against cancer is like in his own family. "It's hard. It's awesome that he could fight that fight and still come out here and do this with us."

Later in the afternoon, as part of his mission he traveled to the Engagement Skills Trainer where he used an arrangement of military weapons to take out the animated enemies. He got six confirmed kills.

"(The show of support) is overwhelming. It makes you feel good about the human race," Melissa said. "Soldiers are amazing. The things they do everyday. They're busy, they have so much going on - the war in Iraq and Afghanistan - and these guys still took their time to help Gaven and make his wish come true.

"The smile on my son's face today is just priceless."

When asked what his favorite part of the whole day was Gaven said, "Riding in the humvee."

With the mission completed and a handful of Soldiers standing at attention Gaven, who originally wished for some McDonalds, smiled as he was promoted to the rank of staff sergeant - it only took him about a week.